13 Days of Fanfiction
by Changeling Fey
Summary: Ever heard of the 12 Days of Christmas? Well, we're going to see if I can give you 13 Days of Kingdom Hearts oneshots. Day 13: An overdose of fluff in a stupidly short drabble. I can't even really call it a oneshot. Happy AkuRoku Day!
1. Being With Him

**Kay, so, hi. 8D This is my first oneshot in what will **_**hopefully**_** be thirteen, in thirteen days. Get it, thirteen days, Organization XIII? -is shot for being so lame- Starting the 1****st**** of August (today) I'm going to try to post a oneshot every day, ending on AkuRoku day. Some of the oneshots will just be random, a few will be parodies (I'll explain more thoroughly when I actually post them) and a lot will be song-inspired. So, yeah, I'm pretty much done.**

**This is my version of what should've happened on Day 118, in 358/2 Days, when the Organization gets a vacation. Enjoy. **

_Operations closed for vacation._

Roxas stared blankly at the sign pasted to the window for a long few moments, the empty words cycling through in his head like a broken record. _Vacation?_ It meant nothing to him.

_Maybe, Axel will know?_

_Yes. I'm sure he will._

Steeled to that resolve, Roxas turned and loped away, scouring the whitewashed halls and corridors for a glimpse of his fiery friend. It took just a few minutes to run into him, coming up a set of curlicue stairs as Roxas fumbled down. He was dressed for work in his cloak and an absently cocky smile, his boot heels clicking carelessly against the tile.

"Heya Roxas!" he called as he spotted the boy, stopped a few steps up, one hand lingering on the rail. "Can you believe they finally gave us a vacation?" His smile broke out into a full-fledged grin, brilliant and white.

"What _is_ a vacation?" Roxas asked, his pale brows knitting together over his bright blue eyes. One corner of his mouth slipped downward into a frown.

Axel laughed at that, a light, carefree laugh that echoed like bells in the emptiness. Roxas felt a shiver trill down his spine, and wondered if he might be coming down with something. "A vacation is a day without work," Axel explained, his voice peppered with more of the same laughter. "A day to do whatever you want to do."

Lines appeared across Roxas forehead as his frown deepened ever farther. "What I _want_ to do?"

"Yeah, you get to do anything you like."

_Anything I…like? But…I don't know what I like._

"Well, what are you going to do?" Roxas asked, hunting for any sort of idea, anything that might give him a hint as to what _he_ liked. _Because I haven't the faintest…_

Axel laughed again, and Roxas was overcome by _yet another_ shiver. _Ugh, I must've picked up something in Agrabah. _"Me? I'm gonna sleep. Then I'm gonna roll over and sleep some more."

_Sleep? Does he _like_ to _sleep_?_

"Don't you sleep enough already?" he asked, even more confused than ever. It was starting to drive him insane. _Why can't they just give me a mission so I don't have to _think_ about all this?_

"Are you kidding?" Axel said. His hands began shaking with the overwhelming _need_ to reach out to the boy-to smooth down that wayward tuft of hair, to trace that pale cheek, to taste those soft, _soft_ lips… They got so bad that he folded them one over the other, to hide their trembling.

_He's so beautiful. I want him. I want to make him mine. I want…to love him._

_But I can't. I can't love him, and he can't love me back._

_So I just have to laugh, and build myself shell after shell to keep away this fire that's going to eat me alive._

"I'd sleep six times a day if they'd let me," he said, laughing yet again, until he'd laughed so many times that the sound made him sick to his stomach, until he choked on the insincerity.

_How can I hurt this much without a heart?_

"Anyway, if you'll excuse me, my bedroom is calling." And with that, Axel forced himself to march away from the boy who watched him with those huge, confused eyes, kindling flames with them in places that no fire should've burned. Not within a Nobody.

Roxas waited for a moment, thinking, wavering, until Axel had turned the corner and vanished from sight-before chasing after him.

_I like…being with him._

"Axel?" he asked softly, peering into the dark room. The lump in the wide, plain white bed twitched, a bit of flaming hair peeking from underneath the covers. "Axel?" Roxas asked again, not daring to flick on the lights. He slipped in past the door, letting it sigh shut behind him, and padded over to the bed, his shoes squeaking against the smooth, clean floor.

Outside the window, Kingdom Hearts floated in the night, it's haloed, amber shine shaming all the other stars into dim submission. It gave the shadows a strangely still, sickly cast.

"Axel, are you sleeping?" Roxas paused at the edge of the bed, squinting to get a better sight of his friend, where he lay, burrowed beneath the blankets.

The redhead squirmed, flipping over onto his side and peeking one luminous green eye out into the world. "Roxas?" he growled, his voice ragged with sleep and edged with annoyance. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Roxas shook his head fast. "No, nothing's wrong."

Axel mumbled something sour to his pillow and dragged himself up, propping his back against the wall. One long, toned arm snuck from the covers and reached out to flick on the lamp sitting on the nightstand, bathing them both in pale, clinical light.

Roxas could see now that his friend was bare-at least to the waist-and there were goosebumps just beginning to spring up along his smooth, pale chest. A sudden warmth invaded Roxas' cheeks as he wondered if he really should've come here in the first place. It was strange, and he couldn't be sure he liked it until the sensation spread downwards- overtaking his chest-as Axel shot him a soft, tired smile.

"What is it then?" he asked, the annoyance gone from his voice. His hair was tied back from his face, bunched together with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. Roxas sort of liked it like that, if he was being honest, though he had no idea why it should matter. It just looked…nice.

"Uhm, I was wondering if, uh…" Roxas tripped over his words, his tongue suddenly clumsy as it tried to wrap itself around the simple sentence. It was maddening, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. "If you wouldn't mind if I, uhm…slept with you."

The tired smile quick became confused and wary, one corner drooping. A half-eyebrow jumped up, and Axel's eyes seemed to sparkle in the mixing light from the lamp and the heart hovering in the sky. "Slept with me?" Roxas could hear the effort it took for him to keep his voice level and monotone.

_Does he know what he's asking? No, he can't… Could he?_

"Well, yeah," he said, laughing just a little, though nothing at all was funny. "I mean, I don't really want to lay in my bedroom all my myself, and I figured you wouldn't want to go get ice cream, and your bed's plenty big enough, so…" _I just don't want to be alone. I just want to be with you. _

Axel shook his head softly, his disappointment coursing through every fiber of his being. _Ah. So he doesn't. Well, it was a nice dream while it lasted._

"Why didn't you want to be by yourself?" he asked, running a tired hand over his face, wiping the crusts of sleep from his eyes.

Roxas shrugged, hoping that his voice wasn't shaking _too_ bad, even though he knew it was. And he had no idea _why_ it was, though he was still powerless to stop it. "Well, you said I got to do what I want to on my vacation." He paused, and it took a ridiculous amount of time to force out the rest of the words. It felt like there was a block in his throat, something holding them up. "I like being with you."

…_With…me?_

"You're one weird kid," Axel whispered, hardly breathing. He smiled as Roxas' face fell, and beckoned him forward with one hand. "Come here," he said, and then laughed as Roxas jerked forward like a puppet drawn along on his master's string. "Wait," he said. "You don't want to sleep in your cloak, do you?"

Roxas paused, both eyebrows popping up. "Oh. Not really." Silently, he unzipped his coat and peeled it back, letting it fall to the floor with the squeal and clinking of leather and metal. He was left in a soft black tee and pants, the latter of which he took off too, laying them atop the crumpled cloak. His boxers were as black as his T-shirt.

Axel nodded and waved him on once more, biting back an approving smile that wanted so badly to work its way onto his cheeks. "There you go. Now, come on." _Crap, I've never actually seen him out of his cloak. I never thought he would look _this_ good._

Without a word, Roxas slunk forward and lay himself down on the empty half of Axel's bed, settling his head on the spare pillow and curling his shoulders inwards. "Goodnight Axel," he whispered, his voice soft and barely audible.

Axel reached over the boy's back to flick off the light, plunging them both into thick, syrupy darkness. "Goodnight Roxas," he whispered back, the happiness in his voice impossible to hide.

Axel was good, while Roxas slept. He didn't act on any of the desires that pulsed so achingly through his veins. He didn't reach over and comb his fingers through the boy's hair, or run his hand down his smooth side, or grope him where groping wouldn't have been appropriate. Of course, if-while he was sleeping-he rolled over and maybe-just maybe-slung an arm over slender shoulders, tucking Roxas into a loose embrace, he couldn't be held accountable. After all, he was asleep.

And when Roxas hummed and snuggled closer, nuzzling the back of his head against Axel's warm chest, he figured he was probably in the clear.

**Review plzkthx? They honestly make my day.**


	2. The Nonsense of MPreg

**This is a parody-fic. This is me, poking fun at a little thing called M-Preg. A thing I **_**really**_** don't like, **_**or**_** understand. I really, just don't get it. Men don't have uteruses, and babies don't grow in the stomach/bladder/wherever people put them. Just because you want your two favorite male characters to make a cute little baby, doesn't mean it's gonna happen, because, physically, it can't. **

**-end rant-**

**I wrote this for nothing but shits and giggles, and I'm not trying to offend anyone, but…yeah. If I do, sorry? Read on?**

**Warning: Axel's got a potty mouth.**

Just about every household has a few pictures of the people that live within it, and some that don't. Baby photos, school portraits, etc. Lined up along a shelf, standing guard atop an entertainment center or sleeping alone on a bedside table.

This house had even more than most. The parents loved to take pictures-to steal moments, and keep them wrapped in glass forever on display to look upon in a melancholy moment.

The boy that lived there-the couple's only son-was staring at one of these photos, his pale eyebrows crinkled with concentration as they drooped down, shading his eyes. The picture in question was one of a wedding, as perfectly flowery, white and cliché as even the most desperate housewife could hope for. The son had snatched this picture from its usual home-atop the mantle-and brought it into his room, where it rested in his lap, victim to his confused scrutiny.

You see, the couple in the picture was composed of two men. One-tall and whip-thin, with long spikes of red hair contrasting violently against his dark suit-with his arms coiled loosely around the other-short, petite and blond, in a white suit tailored to match his lover's. And that's what confused the boy. After all, he was their _son_. And even if he was only eight years old, he had a general idea of where babies came from. The proximity, at least.

And he knew that neither of his parents had anything _down there _that would've made it even _physically possible_ for him to _be born._

But, then again, he looked so much like them. He had two differently colored eyes, one bright, new leaf green, and the other bright sky blue-one from each. He was built like one and shared the face shape of the other. His hair _faded from blond to red_ for fuck's sake. How could he _not_ be their son?

But how could he be?

Biting down on the inside of his lip, the boy set the picture carefully aside and hopped off his bed, shaking his unruly hair out of his eyes. Swallowing breath after deep breath, he tiptoed out of his room and into the kitchen, where both his parents waited.

Roxas looked up from the dishes as his son wandered in, huge curious eyes peering up at him from beneath a fringe of blond bangs. Smiling softly, Roxas let the plate sink back into the soapy water and reached for a dish rag, wiping the suds from his hands. "What is it Roxel, did you have a bad dream?" he asked gently, watching as the boy's gaze flicked between himself and Axel, who started at the sound of his husband's voice, and quickly peeled his attention away from the newspaper.

"Daddy," Roxel started, curling chubby fingers into the leg of his pajama pants. "Am I adopted?"

Both men jumped at that, sparing each other heavy, meaningful looks before turning back around to their son. Axel forced his lips to curl into a thin, worried smile as he folded the paper and set it beside his glass of water. "Why would you ask that? You know you're our son, don't you?" he asked, raising half an eyebrow towards the little boy.

"Well, yeah, but when I brought in a picture of us to show and tell yesterday, Mrs. Gainsborough asked if I was adopted," he explained, worrying at his cheek with his tiny teeth. Why were his parents giving him such a strange sort of stare? Had he done something wrong? They didn't seem, _angry_, exactly…

"You aren't adopted, sweetie," Roxas shot in quickly, setting the dish towel aside and crouching down beside Roxel, eye to eye. "You're our son."

Roxel whined, a frustrated fragment of sound that curled his lips and scrunched his button nose. "But I_ told_ Ms. Gainsborough that and she said that couldn't be true! She said that you couldn't both be my daddies, that it wasn't possible."

Axel scoffed, his face a twisted mask of horror and disbelief. "That bitch!" he swore. "How dare she assume it's _impossible_ for me to get you knocked up?"

Roxas roiled, a pale blue vein pulsing at his neck. "AXEL," he hissed, glaring pointedly at his husband before spinning back around to rest his hands on his sons shoulders, his disposition doing a complete three-sixty in no time flat. "Well, Roxel, Ms. Gainsborough doesn't know everything. She doesn't understand all the circumstances. Your dad and I are…" he paused there, hunting for the right word, one that was appropriate for eight-year-old ears. "Special."

Roxel was unsatisfied with this, and curled his chubby little hands into fists, hammering them against his sides. "But _Daddy!_ Soriku told me that babies _have_ to comefrom a girl. So who did I come from?"

Over at the kitchen table, Axel snorted into his glass, muttering around the drink. "He's one to fucking talk."

An angry sigh rushing through his teeth, Roxas reached up for the damp dish rag and chucked it at his husband's head, missing his face but clipping the topmost spike. "_AXEL_." Another full rotation, and he was back to Roxel, a sunny smile on his face. "You came from me honey. Now do you want me to sit with you until you fall asleep?"

This still made no sense to the little boy. He just didn't _get_ it. "But you're not a girl!" he protested, pale eyebrows falling down to knit together in an expression far too old to fit his childish face.

Axel snickered, innuendo oozing out of his every pore. "No you're most certainly not."

"Shut. Up," Roxas hissed at him, before straightening with a soft groan, and reaching out for Roxel's hand, smothering it in his bigger one. "No, I'm not a girl, but I just loved you so much that you came out anyway. Come on now, it's late." He tugged on his son's hand, leading him out of the kitchen. "Time for bed."

"_But Daddy!_" the boy squealed, pounding his free fist against his father's knee, his face crumpled with discontent and annoyance.

Roxas sighed and glanced over his shoulder with an overly pretty, pleading glance. "Axel, can you help me out here?"

Shoving himself to his feet, Axel bounded over in two long strides, and curled his arms under Roxel's armpits, hoisting him into the air with one smooth, easy move. "Up you go kiddo," he said, grunting with mock-exertion as he settled his son onto one hip, carrying him through the living room.

The little boy screamed, his face going red with rage and anguish as frustrated tears gathered like diamonds in the corners of his eyes. "_Dad!_"

Roxas drew up beside the pair, and reached over to smooth down a stray tuft of his son's hair, trying not to let his exasperation crack through his calm, parental façade. "Shush, sweetie," he murmured, the words a mantra he'd repeated a million times before. They were stale and nearly meaningless in his mouth. "Time to sleep."

The three marched into Roxel's bedroom, and Roxas flipped on the light as Axel sped over to the bed, dropping his son down onto the rumpled sheets, an exhausted sort of smile gracing his cheeks as he tried and failed to pull the blankets the right way round. Roxas stepped over and intervened with an air that was only slightly mocking, straightening the covers with a few easy flicks of his wrists.

"Good night," he said then, leaning down to plant a butterfly kiss on his son's forehead, before drawing back to allow Axel to do the same. Roxel was staring up at them in silent shock, his eyes still angry but his mouth gaping, as if he couldn't quite believe where he was and what was happening to him.

His parents turned and left then, sparing him a few more affectionate smiles, Axel flicking off the lights and shutting the door behind them, calling back, "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

Roxel chose that moment to snap out of his surprise, and make his swift return to fury.

"_DAD! DADDY!_" he wailed, pounding his tiny fists against the mattress and his feet against the wall. The room was completely black except for a sliver of light peeking out from underneath the door, and the darkness swallowed his screams, following them with the whispers of late night TV and the rumble of the dish washer.

Grimacing, Roxel knotted his arms over his chest and wriggled his legs underneath the Thomas the Tank Engine sheets, letting his head thump down against the pillow.His breath gushed out, heavy with the distinct dissatisfaction of being given the run-around. "Holy crap," he muttered to the shadows, just before he closed his eyes and let sleep envelop him. "What kind of idiot do they take me for?"

**Review? Tell me if that made sense?**


	3. Cop Car

**Three days in a row. Fuck. Yeah. 8D -is proud-**

**Here's a song-inspired oneshot for ya. I recommend listening to the song before/while reading this, because it'll probably enhance the effect, but of course, that's up to you. You'll still get it without it. Enjoy. ^.^**

"_And this is how I cope with losing you…" -Cop Car, Forever the Sickest Kids_

The smell of sea-salt ice cream assaulted him with every breath he took.

_So sweet…_

It'd infused itself into the faux leather of the car seats, worked its way into the dash, crawled up and found a home in the AC vents. It clogged his throat, called the beginning prickles of tears to his eyes, tightened his grip on the wheel. The entire car smelled like _him. _Like his breath, like his hair…

_Like his…_

Alcohol buzzed through Axel's veins, blurred the street that danced unsteadily before his eyes. His head ached, but he couldn't be sure if that was from the liquor or the smell that was driving him insane. A strangled sob burst out, and he bit down hard on his lip to hold what he could back. So hard that a coppery ribbon of blood oozed into his mouth.

_Rox-_

The wail of a police siren shattered his thoughts into a thousand glass fragments, that cut him as they fell. Glancing into the rearview, he picked out the blue and red lights tailing him, signaling for him to stop, to pull over. He did so, slowly, sloppily, trying to gather himself even as the flashing lights burned his eyes.

Idling at the side of the road, he leaned back into the seat, letting the smell of _him_ fill his mouth as he waited for the cop to march up to his car.

Gloved knuckles rapped on his window pane, and he fingered a button to crank the glass out of the way, squinting up at the officer through the haze of alcohol and tears. The cop was tall and built, with messy black hair and a face that looked more taken to smiling than to the businesslike scowl it wore. A gun hung threateningly from his belt, smooth and black and deadly.

"Could you get of the car, sir?" he asked in a way that allowed for no refusal. It was less of a question than an order.

Axel stumbled out onto the side of the road, his legs numb and leaden, his head drooping.

The cop started rattling off orders, and Axel complied without a second thought, because he had no sensible thoughts to spare. His entire head was a jumble of pain and regret. "Walk a straight line. Look into the light. Follow my finger. Say the alphabet in reverse." Pulling a cell phone out of his pocket, the cop handed it over. "Call someone to come and pick up your car."

His fingers fumbling over the tiny buttons, Axel punched in the familiar number, the familiar voice answering with a cheery, "Hello?" Even though it was two in the morning.

Axel hung his head, reaching up with his free hand to rub his temples, trying in vain to chase away the headache that was already threatening through the drunken haze. "Hey, Dem, can I ask you a favor?"

"Oh, hey Ax," Demyx chirped. "Sure, what's up?"

Demyx arrived fifteen minutes later, pulling over behind the cop car and jumping out of the passenger side, running a hand through his mullet, Mohawk, _thing_. "Well, someone's been a bad boy," he called out, trying not to laugh. Axel caught sight of Zexion-Dem's boyfriend-sitting in the driver's seat, waiting with his hands on the wheel. "Got the keys?"

Axel nodded, and pointed to the ignition, where his keys still hung. "Yeah, thanks Dem."

Demyx grinned and shivered in the September chill, resting a hand on the roof of Axel's car. "No problem dude, I got this."

The cop nodded solemnly and took hold of Axel's hand, towing him towards the cop car. "Come with me, sir," he said, pushing him none-too-gently into the empty backseat before climbing in up front. There was another cop-shorter, blond, cutesy-in the passenger seat. _Fuck, he looks like…even the eyes…_

The tall cop talked as he drove, his words half-swallowed by the wail of the siren. "Since this is your first offense, there won't be a trial, but you'll have to pay a fine and spend some time in jail until someone posts your bail or forty-eight hours are up. You will be given one phone call when we reach the station…"

Axel wasn't really listening.

The station was cramped and dark and mostly deserted, with just a receptionist behind the desk to keep the watch, and she was half asleep against a pile of papers. The cop pointed as he led Axel in, to an ancient, clunky phone bolted to the wall, the plastic numbers cracked by thousands upon thousands of angry, violent fingers. "There's the phone," he said, handing over fifty cents and pushing him forward. "You get one call, and that's it."

Axel slipped in the change and picked up the phone, punching in the first number that came to mind, without a second thought.

_Answer, please, please, please answer… I just need to hear his voice…_

He answered on the eighth ring, with a click as a phone left it's cradle and a tired, "Hello?" he asked, coughing to clear his throat. "Who's this?"

"Roxas?" he asked, even though he knew. It was his voice, _his_ voice. He'd know it anywhere. "It's-"

Roxas cut him short. "Axel." His voice was rough and stumbling, and not with sleep. Axel could've sworn he could hear the boy breathing on the other end. "Wh-why are you calling? I haven't seen you in-"

It was Axel's turn to interrupt. "Six months, two weeks and five days," he rattled off without a thought. The dates were burned into his mind, huge towering numbers of fire that seared him every time his mind strayed to them. "Look, I'm sorry, but… I'm in the Twilight Town Police Station."

Roxas made a sort of choking noise, and it nearly stopped his heart. "_Jail? _Why?"

Axel shrugged, even though no one but the cops and half-dead receptionist could see it. "I got caught driving drunk. They gave me one phone call, and…" He let his voice trail off, realizing just how obvious everything else was.

"You called me," Roxas said, finishing the sentence anyway. "Why?"

"Because I miss you," Axel whispered, the last dregs of alcohol spurring on his voice. _Tell him, tell him, tell him._ "And I wanted to hear your voice."

He gasped. He actually _gasped_. "Axel…"

Interrupting one last time, he forced himself to sound cheerful, upbeat, and asked, "So, how's college going?" _Because I can't hear him say how much he hates me…_

"Wha-? Fine, I guess…" Roxas stammered, confused. And then he paused, and added, "Do you really miss me that much?"

Axel nodded. The blond cop was staring at him, wondering. The black-haired one was busy prodding the receptionist with the business end of his baton, a bored look pasted to his face, but the blond one was _staring right at him_.

Axel forced the confession out anyway, no matter the audience. _I have to say it, now or never. _"I do. I'm so sorry. I made the worst mistake of my life when I lost you. I never meant to hurt you like I did. I'm sorry. I love you, Roxas."

"Ax-" And the line went dead.

Axel spent the rest of the night in a six-by-six cell that he didn't even have to share, laying back on the hard wooden bench he'd gotten in lieu of a bed, and drifting in and out of sleep.

"_I wish the world could stay like this forever."_

"_Who's to say it can't?"_

"_Hey, Axel! Guess what! I got into DIU! They sent me my letter this morning!"_

"_That's awesome babe, now we've just got to wait for mine."_

_Dear Sir or Madam,_

_We regret to inform you that we must decline your admission to our school. Every year many wonderful individuals fail to make the cut, as our standards are high…_

Axel was laying awake on the hard wooden bench in the cell when the tall, dark-haired cop behind the bars, and slipped his keys into the lock. "Hey, you, redhead," he called, ripping the door open and beckoning with one gloved hand for him to rise. "Your bail's been paid."

Axel raised both eyebrows, then gave up on that as it cracked his head in two with pain. "Really?" he mumbled, cradling his skull as he struggled to his feet. He was still in his crumpled, drink-stained, utterly ruined Destiny Diner uniform, and it slid greasily over his frame when he shifted.

The cop rolled his eyes and shut the grate behind him, propelling Axel towards the lobby with an irritated shove. "Yes, really, now come on."

Every step sent needles through his eyes, and he blinked hard, groaning in pain. "Who…?" he breathed, falling suddenly silent as he saw the room for the first time-as he saw the young man waiting by the reception desk, a set of keys jingling in one pale hand, the other toying with a strand of blond hair.

_Oh God, he looks beautiful. So, so, so beautiful._

Perfect blue eyes glanced up at him and sparkled with the smile that graced his cheeks. "Hey Axel," he called, waving. He was still short, still twig thin, still so fucking pretty that Axel could hardly stand it, even in a baggy University hoodie and khaki shorts. His smile was still exactly the same lovely thing it'd always been.

Axel couldn't breathe.

"Do you want to go for coffee now, or is your hangover too awful to talk?"

**Review? Maybe? Please?**


	4. Let It Roll

**Four days in a row! -dances- Anyway, here's another song-inspired oneshot. Once again, I suggest listening to the song, but, once again, it's up to you. **

**Enjoy. 8D**

"_Our time is fleeting so we take control…" -Let it Roll, All Time Low_

"_Will you come with me?"_

"…_I'm sorry."_

Axel threw his head from side to side, scrunching the sheets underneath his hands. Gnawing at the inside of his lip, he glanced over at the alarm clock resting on his nightstand.

_4:30. Shit…I have work in the morning. I have to sleep…_

Groaning, Axel sat up, dragging a tired hand through his tangled red hair, fixing the rubber band that bound it back. He reached over the edge of the bed, fishing for the pillow he'd thrown to the floor.

_I need to stop thinking…if I stop thinking about _him_ maybe I could sleep…_

_Fuck, I miss him. _

Swearing, Axel flung his pillow down and followed it, smashing his eyes shut as if he could force himself to lose consciousness.

At six that morning he called into his office, and explained to his boss how he'd contracted a bad case of the flu.

At seven-thirty he was in his car, wheel in one hand and shitty gas station coffee in the other, speeding down the interstate.

At two that afternoon, Axel got lost in an endless maze low green hills, and it wasn't until three-thirty that he figured out where the fuck he was going.

_His lips, his tongue, his teeth, his _voice_._

_Shit, I can't drive like this. I _need_ to concentrate. _

_But those _hands.

At five o' clock, Axel reached the outskirts of a town, the kind with a population that could fit into their school's gymnasium. It was a town he knew better than the back of his hand. After all, he'd spent twenty-two years of his life there.

He pulled over at the Stop & Go around the corner from his high school and grabbed a bag of Lays from inside while his car stuffed itself full of gas. He'd paid the cashier-a kid he recognized from his AP Stats class-and swallowed a mouthful of chips when his phone screamed from his pocket.

He answered the call, and a voice started talking the second he heard the click signaling a complete connection. "Axel, dude?" he asked, his words speeding along like a freight train. "You missed work today, Saix said you called in sick, are you okay?"

Axel closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cool glass of the refrigerator wall. "Yeah, Demyx, I'm fine. I just…needed to take a day. Think some things over, you know?"

Demyx voice grew understanding, and almost-sort of-sneaky. "Oh, I get it. A mental health day?"

Axel snorted away from the phone and said, "Sort of." He glanced up and watched as a man stepped through the automatic doors and grabbed a newspaper, peering solemnly at the headline. Axel turned away. "Listen dude, I'm sort of busy right now, can I call you back tomorrow?"

"Sure dude," he chirped. "Rest up, I'll see ya later."

"I will, Dem, thanks." He hung up just as a voice he would recognize anywhere spoke up from just behind him.

"Axel?" he said, his voice as clear and strong and calm as it'd been the last time he'd heard it, years ago. "Holy shit, is that you?"

Axel spun on his heels, face to face with one he'd first seen at the age of three. Ghost-pale skin, longish silver hair and aquamarine eyes that stared up at him in complete, utter shock. "Riku?"

"Oh, my, god, it is you," he scoffed, the softest of smiles playing over his lips. "I'd recognize those tattoos anywhere. What the hell are you doing here in the Podunk capital of the world? I thought you got that nice, cushy job downstate, the one with the suits and the cubicles and the six figure paycheck."

Axel nodded, less awkward than he would've imagined. "I did. But you know I never did well with cubicles…" he glanced down at his torn, ratty jeans and faded T-shirt, and then back up at Riku, who grinned. "Or suits. I was…" He hunted for the right expression, when none seemed to fit. "Feeling homesick, I guess."

Riku bobbed his head, his grin spreading ever wider and fast becoming knowing, his tone suggestive. "Ah. Homesick. I get it. You came to see Roxas, didn't you?"

Jaw hanging, Axel stared at his best friend. "Why does everyone always know what I'm thinking?" he asked, indignant and leaning towards sarcastic. "Is it written all over my forehead in bright, bold, letters: 'Axel is a horny fuck'?"

Laughing, Riku shook his head. _He stills laughs the same after all this time. I never realized before how much I missed all of them. _"Naw, you're just easy to read. Well come on," he said, beckoning towards the parking lot, car keys appearing in his hand. "If you want to see him so bad, I'll take you to his new apartment."

Riku led him to an apartment building that was nicer and newer than any of the ones that had been around when Axel was growing up. He got out of his car, chatted for a few minutes about unimportant things, gave Axel the apartment number, and ordered him to call him before running off again. They needed to hang out, he said, all for of them.

Axel wasn't surprised to find himself agreeing with every word he said.

And he wasn't surprised when-as soon as he had pulled away-Axel was already wishing he was back. Riku had been his first ever friend, and his best friend, and the person who told him everything and was told everything in return. He'd been trying to force himself to not miss him-to not miss any of them-for two years.

It hadn't worked.

Axel tromped up two flights of stairs to apartment thirteen in five minutes, took another six to gather his thoughts, courage, and bullheaded determination, and then finally knocked.

Roxas took only thirty seconds to answer the door. He'd always been the fast one. "Shit," he breathed, freezing in the entryway. "Axel?"

The redhead nodded, a tiny half smile quirking his lips. "The one and only."

Roxas' eyebrows jumped sky high, and Axel could literally see the whiteness of his knuckles as his hand tightened on the edge of the door. "Holy hell, what are you doing here?"

Axel shrugged, though the racing of his heart was nothing close to nonchalant. "I wanted to see you."

One pale eyebrow fell, and his lips pulled back. "So you drove across half the state to come visit without so much as a phone call?" He looked exactly the same as he had three years ago. An inch or two taller, _maybe_, but still the same lovely blond hair, the same blue eyes, the same soft pink lips.

"Yeah, pretty much," Axel said, forcing out a laugh and forcing it not to sound _too_ nervous. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, I guess," Roxas said, a little halting, a little unsure. He stood back to allow Axel to step inside, and then shut the door behind him, leaning back against it. "How's the job going?"

Axel shook his head, his heart trapped in his throat and hammering away, choking him. "I hate it. I get up too early, work too late." He paused, and looked at Roxas through his lashes. "I see much too little of you."

Roxas snorted, and studied the pile of sneakers resting beside the welcome mat, staring so hard he might've been trying to tie the laces with just his eyes. "If I recall correctly, you're the one that left."

Axel closed his eyes and shook his head, ever so softly. "I was stupid. I…" His breath shook. "I regret leaving you every second of every day."

Eyes snapping upwards, Roxas stared at him with so much raw emotion swimming behind his calm, collected mask that Axel hadn't a chance at reading any of it. All he said was, "I see."

"Do you…" he choked the words out, hating that he had to spell his intentions out word by fucking word. "Ever miss me?"

"What do you think?" Roxas scoffed, his pretty voice tipped with the softest hint of acid. Axel's heart throbbed painfully in his chest.

He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and gave Roxas a look that made him feel so much like he was eighteen again. So…knowing, annoyed, childish. _Stupid. I was so fucking stupid. I was _always_ fucking stupid. _"I think you're being cryptic just because you know it pisses me off."

Roxas shrugged, his gestures detached, indifferent, his eyes and voice anything but. "Maybe."

Axel dropped his arms and took a staggering step forward. "Roxas, I'm willing to give up everything." Another step. "My job, my house, everything that I own, to come back here, and to be with you." One more. Two more. Roxas looked away from him. "Will you have me back, after all the stupid things I've done?" They were so close now that Axel could reach out and brush his hand over a soft cheek, so he did. "Roxas." The boy's eyes jumped up at the sound of his name. "Do you love me?"

Roxas' eyes were shining, his voice shaking. "Axel, I've known you for twenty years." He paused, and drew in a heavy, shuddering breath. "I've loved you for nearly ten." Slowly, so slowly that he wasn't sure he'd ever even really do it, Axel leaned down to brush his lips-ever so gently-against Roxas', while his hand traced that remembered face. Just that was enough to make his chest combust with wanting.

"It seems I'll never be done giving you second chances," Roxas breathed, half laughing as they pulled apart. His voice hadn't finished trembling, but his eyes were happy, and his lips were trying not to smile.

Axel studied that face. That beautiful face that he'd memorized decades ago. "Are you willing to give me a few more?"

And he leaned down to kiss him, once, twice, three times more.

And Roxas didn't stop smiling.

Axel and Roxas met Sora and Riku at ten that night at the same diner they'd collapsed after Senior prom, four years ago. They stuffed themselves with heavy, greasy food-fries, shakes, burgers-and talked about nothing for hours, until the diner kicked them out and locked their doors, just after one.

Then they piled into their cars and drove to the beach, where they split a twelve pack that appeared out of Riku's trunk, and lay back in the sand with a sad little driftwood fire glowing at their feet, waiting for the tide to roll in.

**I'm not super happy with this one, so, tell me what you think? I'd like to fix it up a little, when I have time.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. My OC is More Cliche Than Your OC

**Shortdrabbleisshort. Oh well.**

**This is another parody, this time I'm making fun of OCs. But before you shoot me dead, I'm not making fun of ALL OC's, just the Mary-Sues. And if you don't know what that is, you can easily look it up. I see a ridiculous amount of Mary Sues in the Kingdom Hearts fandom, and if you read any amount of KH fan fiction, so have you. They're the…you know what? I'm not even going to describe them to you, because I make it pretty obvious in the drabble.**

**I don't mean to offend anyone with this, but…well, if I do, then…there's a reason. That's all I'm saying.**

**Warning: Vulgarity, I has it.**

It was early in the morning, the better part of the Organization gathered in the kitchen before heading off to their respective missions, fighting over seats and counter space.

So when the doorbell rang, they all turned to Demyx-who'd just wandered downstairs still in his pajamas-to answer it. And he didn't even bother fighting them, because he knew he'd lose. Instead he unlatched the deadbolt and opened the door.

A girl stood on the other side, a girl with blue eyes, pale skin and curly blond hair, her short frame wrapped in the standard issue black cloak, though hers looked a little more threadbare and thrown-together than most.

"Uhm, hi," Demyx said, scratching a hand through his hair. "Who're you?"

The girl grinned like an absolute idiot, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "I'm Xasarh, the new member of the Organization." She popped over to one side and leaned around him, trying to catch a glimpse inside. "Is Axel here?"

Demyx furrowed his eyebrows, nibbling on the inside of his lips. "I didn't know we were getting a new member…" he said, following the girl's gaze back inside, trying to figure out what she was looking for.

She seemed to be expecting that, and spun him back around, holding onto his upper arm. "Oh, don't worry, I'm totally legit," she enthused, voice layered with excitement. "See, I've got the coat and the X in my name and everything." Once more, she peered inside. "Now, Axel?"

Demyx made a face and peeled her hand away from him. Her fingers had started to cut off blood flow. "Well I guess I can go ask Xemnas…" he wavered, wrinkling his nose as glancing over his shoulder just as Axel came wandering down the stairs, blinking thickly and rubbing at his eyes and tripping over his own two feet.

The girl-Xasarh-squealed and blew past him, her entire body vibrating like a plucked string as she threw herself at the Nobody, cinching her arms around his skinny waist. "AXEL!" she shrieked, sounding ridiculously overjoyed.

Red eyebrows yanked together, and green eyes narrowed at the figure latched onto his torso. He was used to having someone short and blond hanging onto him, but not one with _boobs_. "Who the fuck are you?"

Xasarh gazed up at him in utter awe, her eyes shining. "I'm the new member of the Organization, now let's go make babies." She grabbed his hand and towed him towards the stairs with a manic grin.

Axel wasn't having any of that. He tugged her back twice as hard as she pulled him, bringing them both to sudden stop. "Uhm, I'm gonna go ahead and repeat my previous question," Axel said, glaring the girl's way. "Who. The fuck. Are you?"

The girl rolled her eyes like he was being an absolute _child_. "I told you already, I'm the new member of the Organization. You're a lot slower in person, aren't you?"

Axel hissed and glanced over his shoulder at his brunette friend, eyes aflame. "Demyx?" he growled, shaking his hand to indicate the creature dangling from it. "Did you let this monstrosity in?"

Demyx shrugged, shuffling his bare feet. "She had the cloak and the X, I figured I could ask Xemnas…"

Axel let out a quiet curse and cast his eyes towards the sky. "You shouldn't _have_ to ask Xemnas, the answer should be obvious. We're Organization XIII, and Roxas is the 13th member. We can't have anybody new, then it just throws the whole thing off."

Eyebrows knitting together, Demyx cocked his head to one side, confused. "What about Xion?" he asked, before he had time to realize that he should've just shut up.

Bristling, Axel ground his teeth together and spat his reply through them. "That hermaphrodite _does not_ count."

A pink head poked itself into the corridor followed by a muscled body in sweat pants and a T-shirt. "Did somebody call for me?" he asked, munching on a bagel and talking around the debris.

"No Marly, get out of here," Axel snapped, to which he got a well-chosen finger and a few muttered words. Ignoring the pink-haired Nobody, Axel grabbed Demyx arm and tightened his grip on the girl's, not trying in any way, shape or form to make his hold anything but painful. _It's too early for this shit. _"Now, you and _you_ come with me, we're going to go talk to Xemnas so I can prove that you're not supposed to be here."

It took the better part of ten minutes to get to the sitting room with Axel dragging the girl and the Nobody along behind, when it should've taken less than two. They lagged along, chatting about nothing, tittering like _birds_.

Axel wanted to sucker punch both of them, but instead, he brought them to Xemnas, who sat in his favorite chair, wearing his favorite pajamas, with his favorite mug that no one else was allowed to ever, ever touch, under penalty of death, resting beside his hand. He had the newspaper unfolded in his lap. He glanced up as they came barreling in, studying them with irritated amber eyes. "What is it, Axel, Demyx? I'm reading the funnies," he said, shaking the paper to emphasis the importance of the funnies. Only then did he seem to notice the third figure, hovering a little farther back. His eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "Who the fuck is this?"

The girl bounced forward, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. "I'm the newest member," she exclaimed, shooting the evil overlord a brilliant, ridiculous smile. "Xasarh."

Xemnas snorted and raised an eyebrow her way. "The fuck are you talking about, there's only thirteen members of Organization XIII. That should be obvious," he turned to Axel and Demyx and added, "isn't it obvious?" as if he wanted them to answer, to agree with him, but as soon as they opened their mouths to do so, he kept on rambling. "I mean, this is why I named this Organization XIII in the first place."

Without letting a single one of them get in a word sideways, he straightened his paper, took a sip of whatever the hell he was drinking and shooed them away with one nonchalant hand. "Now, all of you, get out of here, I want to finish Calvin and Hobbes."

**Yes, the OC is based off my physical appearance. No, my name is not Sarah, but my name **_**is**_** too long and has too many silent letters to make a decent Organization name. So I just picked a pretty common name and used that.**

**Review please? Good and bad, I worship them all.**


	6. Take It Off

**Day 6. Oh. Yeah. 8D**

**Because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't write to at least one song like this. Same thing as before, I recommend listening to the song before/while reading, but, up to you. Not gonna force you.**

**Warning: Innuendo is awesome. 8D**

"_There's a place downtown where the freaks all come around…" -Take It Off, Ke$ha_

Roxas found his roommate sitting under a tree in front of the University, his head bent back against the trunk, notes and textbooks spread out around him and going completely unnoticed. "Hey, Sora," he called, walking up to him and crouching down in the heavenly shade-such a heavenly difference from the city-in-summer hell. "You doing anything tonight?" he asked as the boy opened his eyes.

Sora shook his head, his spiky hair bouncing lazily back into place. His blue eyes were sleepy, and Roxas was ninety percent sure he'd been napping. "Not really." He yawned, cracking his mouth open wide like a cat. _Scratch that, ninety-nine percent. _"Why, you have plans?"

Roxas grinned and curled a chunk of blond bangs around one finger. "Well, there's this place I know…" he paused, his eyes shadowed with mischief. "I thought you might like it."

Sora glanced over his shoulder to glare at his roommate, who was leaning against the doorframe, wearing a devious little smile that clashed so hugely with his angelic face. "Roxas, I look ridiculous," he said, gesturing to the razor-slashed skinny jeans and tight, black, equally wrecked tank top he'd been goaded into. There was a mask of make-up weighing down his face-eyeliner, eyeshadow, _glitter_.

Roxas beamed, his skin sparkling in the light. He was wearing _twice_ as much, his outfit-black leather shorts and vest over a fishnet shirt-_twice_ as revealing. Sora didn't know how he could stand it. "No you don't. You look perfect, now come on, night's already falling."

Sora wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, even though the fast-approaching night was anything but chilly. The air wrapped him like a second skin, ducking down his clothes like warm, muggy breath. All around him was the heart-thudding sound of heavy bass, the flashing of neon lights, and the chatter of people-_loud_ people. Cars ripped down the street, bouncing along to their own disembodied beats. The air was thick with the sickly sweet smell of cigarettes, the sharp reek of sick, the sourness of alcohol and a whole hell of a lot of something Sora didn't recognize.

He glanced over to Roxas, who was bobbing along as he walked, his face a bright star in the fluorescent darkness. "What is this place?" he asked him, leaning in close so no one else might hear.

The blond paused outside a building that looked no different than any of the others surrounding it. Dirty brick, flickering neon sign that read _Orgy XIII_ in towering red letters, a heavyset bouncer propped up on one side of the matte black door.

Roxas turned to his roommate and laughed, tossing back his spiked, glittered hair. His eyes were swollen with harsh, colorful light. "What, don't you know a strip club when you see one?"

"A strip club?" Sora said, mouth gaping as he glanced around him once more. All of a sudden, things that hadn't seemed noticeable before, popped out now. People wore less, showed more skin-oiled, shimmering, skin. The beat of the music was more primal, the lyrics swimming into raunchy clarity, the sounds of people chattering turned excited and sensual. "Why…?"

Giggling Roxas latched onto Sora's elbow and towed him towards the building, saying, "'Cause you need to loosen up a little, hon." They stopped at the bouncer's feet, hovering in his shadow. He was massively built, with orange-red hair and a run of piercings through his eyebrows, a black T-shirt stretched dangerously over his chest. Roxas smiled a sweet smile, tipped with devilish poison. "Hey, Lex, busy night?"

The bouncer inclined his head in agreement, waved his hand in greeting and opened the door in welcome, letting a spill of wavering light out onto the street. Roxas darted inside without another word, dragging Sora along for the ride.

The brunette stared at his friend, openmouthed with shock. "You're on first name terms with the bouncer?" he asked, shouting above the music that was suddenly deafening, the bass threatening heart attacks with every chorus. Lights flashed everywhere-bright and multicolored, flickering so fast that there should've been a seizure warning hung somewhere on the wall.

Roxas shrugged and kept moving, weaving the both of them towards the bar situated in one corner of the body-packed room. "Well I come here often enough."

Sora's eyes bugged. "You do?" People were everywhere, reeking and smiling and whooping and laughing. It made Sora's head swim.

"Uh huh," he said, plopping down on a barstool and sitting Sora next to him. Chewing on the edge of one fingernail, he glanced at the digital clock hanging from the wall. His grin spread and he turned back to Sora. "Oo, just a few minutes till the first show. Come on, let's get you drunk." Before the brunette could squeeze in two words, Roxas was hailing the bartender and giving the tall, blond man his order. "Can I get two Cherry Bombs, please?" Ears jingling with piercings, the man nodded and moved away, just as another slipped into view from behind.

"I know that voice!" a man cooed, flipping back a head of feathery pink hair. "Roxy! How you doin' hon?"

Roxas grinned, leaning off the edge of his stool to give the man a gentle, very _feminine_ hug. "Wonderful Marly," he said. "You on tonight?"

Marly nodded, looping a finger through the tattered sleeve of his black top-off-the-shoulder, tight and _revealing. _Not as bad as his pants though-leather, black, sparkly, and _too-small_. "Mmhmm, I'm closing," he said, chewing a pierced lip. "Ax is around here somewhere, want me to send him over?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Roxas said, beaming. Marly smiled back and waved, moving to flounce away, before Roxas latched onto his wrist, tugging him back. "Oh, by the way, is Riku on first tonight?" he asked.

The man's confusion melted as he bobbed his head. The smell of flowers was _everywhere. _"Yep. He should be out in a few."

Roxas let the man go and nodded, not without satisfaction in the curl of his lips. "Good. He's…in my friend's tastes."

Marly looked past Roxas at Sora, blinked a couple of times before his face collapsed into a smile. "I'll be sure to let him know there's a cutie waiting at the bar," he enthused, shooting Sora a lazy little wave, before giving one to Roxas. "Night hon!"

"Night!" Roxas called as the man danced off, disappearing into the crowd.

"Who was that?" Sora asked as soon as he was gone, his eyes huge and shocked and blue.

Roxas shrugged and picked up the drink that the bartender had dropped off, running a single finger around the rim of the shot glass. "One of the guys that works here."

One eyebrow popped up and Sora risked a glance towards his own drink, before deciding there was no way he was touching the thing. "A stripper?"

"Mmhmm," he hummed, kicking his heels against the frame of his stool, wiggling faintly to the music. He waved one hand at his friend, urging him on towards the pair of glasses sitting before him on the counter. "Now go on, drink up, Riku's gonna be on soon."

The other eyebrow joined it's brother. "Who's Riku?"

"Another stripper, what do you think?" Roxas winked a sparkling eye his way, downing his drink with one neat flip of his wrist. "And trust me, you'll like him."

"ROXAS!"

Both boys spun around just in time to catch sight of a tall, whip thin man hurtling towards them before he caught Roxas in a huge, rough, laughing hug, from which he poked his head out a moment later. "_Hey_ Axel!" he giggled, leaving the man's arms looped around his neck.

"C'mere baby, I haven't seen you in ages," he said before darting down steal Roxas' lips in a huge, enthusiastic kiss that left the blond flushed.

"I _know_, way too long," he said, his smile so cheery and real that Sora couldn't help but stare. He didn't know if he'd ever seen Roxas look so ridiculously happy. The blond looked the man up and down once or twice, and his cheeks stretched even farther. "I love the pants, by the way," he added.

"Hmm, I knew _you_ would," Axel said, winking. The pants in question were more holes than they were actual pants. Tight and low-riding, made out of some shimmery silver material and slashed to ribbons. The were ridiculous, but Sora had to admit that the man managed to pull them off. Tall and lean, with tattoos running up his arms and over his face, his long red hair tamed into thick spikes, his eyes green as new grass.

The man hiked a thumb over his shoulder, one half of his mouth curling up into a devious smile. "I've got a half hour till I'm due on stage, you wanna have some time alone in the backroom?"

Roxas made a conflicted face and shook his head. "I'd love to, but I probably shouldn't leave him all on his lonesome," he said, pointing over at Sora, who just sat there frozen like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming semi.

Axel pulled up the other end of his mouth and turned his gaze to Sora, eyes afire with soft mischief. "Aw, who's the friend?"

Sora opened his mouth to answer, found his voice missing and closed it again. Roxas giggled and answered for him. "Name's Sora. He's my roommate."

"He gets to live with you?" Axel asked, voice raspy with incredulity, glancing back and forth between the two boys. "I might just die of jealousy. Any particular reason you brought him along?"

Roxas nodded, playing with the rings on Axel's fingers, as the man's arms still rested against his chest. "Thought him and Riku might hit it off."

Suddenly the lights dimmed, and stopped their mad dance. The music screeched to a halt, replaced by a new song with a slower, heavier beat. The only thing Sora's eyes could see as they adjusted was the glimmering white of Axel's grin.

"Oo, well," he said, laughing to himself. "I think we're going to find out right about now."

**HA. HAHA. YOU GUYS TOTALLY THOUGHT I WAS GONNA GIVE YOU A SHITLOAD OF HOT STRIPPER!RIKU, DIDN'T YA? WELL, NOPE. 8D 'Cause I'm evil like that. ;D And lazy, mostly lazy. I **_**was**_** going to write a shitload of hot stripper!Riku, but then this started getting longer and I started to realize I wasn't going to be able to finish all of that in time. Maybe, someday, if I'm bored, I'll write it and you guys can all fawn over the hawtness that is a mostly naked Riku. 8D**

**Review, plzkthx? Seriously, even if it's all of three words and those three words are "you suck balls D8" I WANT YOU TO REVIEW. Just seeing that Review Alert in my mailbox makes my day, like, so much. **


	7. Coffee Break

**I am so amazed with myself right now, you have no idea. Seven days in a row. Holy crap. More than halfway done. 8D**

**Same with all other song-inspired: I recommend listening to, not gonna force you.**

**This is for Lyssa: If you ever read it, I hope you enjoy it dear. It's not **_**Hungry Like The Wolf,**_** but it's something, eh? **

"_I'm guessing this is growing up…" -Coffee Break, Forever the Sickest Kids_

"_Hey, Rox, it's Sora. Call me back when you get this, will ya? 'Bye!"_

"_Roxas Hayes? This is Saix of Kingdom Inc., replying to your request for an interview. Call between the hours of seven and eight so we can schedule an appointment."_

"_Roxas? It's Namine… I just wanted to know…what did you say to Mom? She's been crying all day…"_

"'_Sup man? It's Demyx. We need to hang out sometime, no? You should come see my band, we're playing tomorrow night. Call me back, okay?"_

Roxas held down the off button and buried his head in his hands as he listened to the cheery little tune of his phone powering down. Reaching for his second cup of coffee, he downed the dregs of it, the liquid tepid and bitter against his tongue. _Not enough sugar…_

Closing his eyes for a moment, he sucked down a slow breath, trying to calm his panicking heart as he flipped open his book, fingering the worn pages as he hunted for his place. The words blurred before his sleepy eyes, and he brought a hand to them, running the pads of his fingers over the bruise-purple bags that decorated his face.

_I'm so tired…I need to sleep, but I just toss and turn all night, no matter what. _

_I feel sick. I hate this. I hate all this changing._

"Hey, you," a voice said, nearly as tired as his own. Roxas glanced up at the tall waiter who was staring down at him with sharp emerald eyes, a tray of empty mugs balanced on one hand, an apron with the café's logo emblazoned across the front cinched around his waist. "Do you want another coffee?"

Roxas nodded, brushing wayward blond bangs from his face. "Espresso, actually, please." _Maybe if just keep stuffing myself with caffeine…maybe then I can stay awake._

The man snickered as he swept up Roxas' empty coffee cups. He was beautiful-lean and pale, with spiky red hair and tattoos lurking underneath his pretty eyes. "You're going to give yourself a heart attack if you keep this up," he told him, laughing. "Not that I can really judge," he added over his shoulder as he swept away, the stunning whiteness of his grin lingering on behind.

Setting down his book, Roxas checked his watch. Only ten minutes of his break left. Sighing, he turned his phone back on just in time to answer an incoming call from an unregistered number.

"Hello?" he asked, clearing his throat when he realized how quiet and broken his voice really was.

The voice that answered was panicked, shot through with static, and sickeningly familiar. "Roxas?" his mother asked. "Is that you?"

"Mom?" he breathed, trying so very hard to keep calm. _I can't let her hear how much this scares me._ "Why didn't you come up on Caller ID?"

"I'm at a pay phone, you won't answer any of my calls otherwise," she said, her words weighed down with fake pain. _She has no right to sound so heartbroken. None at all._

"I wonder why," Roxas snapped, giving up on any attempt to mask his disdain. "What do you want?"

It sounded like she was crying through her spiel. "I want to know what it is I did wrong, bringing you up. What did I do?"

Roxas curled on hand into a fist around a used napkin, aching with his entire being to hit _something_. _Anything. _"You didn't make me this, I was born the way I am," he hissed, keeping his voice low even though his corner of the café was deserted and the canned music playing overhead was loud. "And there's nothing wrong with it, how long will it be before you understand that? _There's nothing wrong with the way I am, and you have no right to say there is._" He was breathing so hard now, no longer calm in any way, shape or form.

His mother gasped into the receiver, her voice suddenly quiet. "How can you say there's nothing wrong with it? It's sick, twisted, disgusting."

This time he did hit something, slamming his hand against the edge of the battered table. "If I'm so disgusting, you don't have to ever put with me again," he said, words edged with poison. "Maybe I wasn't always the best son. Maybe I was disobedient, maybe I stayed out past curfew, maybe I didn't listen to half the things you said. But I always loved you." He paused, gathering the frayed threads of his mind. "I _do_ love you. Can you say the same?"

There was a long moment of silence before his mother finally spoke, her voice weighed down with regret and defeat. "Roxas…"

He cut her off. He didn't care about anything else she might say. "Then don't you say a single goddamn condescending word to me. Don't you dare talk to me like I have an obligation to care what you think. If you can't learn to live with the way I am, then don't worry, you don't have to ever live with me again."

Hanging up before his mother could squeeze in another word, Roxas buried his phone in his coat pocket and scratched irritably at his eyes. _Even now, I don't hate her, and she can't even _say_ the same. She can't even lie about it._

"You okay?" asked the waiter from behind. "You look like your about to blow chunks all over the table that I'd have to clean up."

Roxas spun in his chair, craning his neck to see the gorgeous, smiling man looking down at him, much closer than he would've imagined. _He smells nice._ "How long have you been there?" he asked, realizing that he wouldn't have heard any approaching footsteps, not over the "smooth" jazz playing.

He shrugged broad shoulders. "Long enough."

Sighing, Roxas shook his head, resting his temple on the tips of his fingers. "It's just…life."

The man nodded sympathetically. "Ah. Life. I get it. Well, here's your coffee." He set down the new mug-plain and enormous, overflowing with curls of steam and sitting on a pillow of napkins. _Coffee smells nice, too._

Turning to walk away-and giving Roxas a nice look at his behind-the man stopped suddenly, and glanced over his shoulder. "Look, if you need someone to talk to…" he said, chewing almost nervously on his bottom lip. _He has a lip ring._ "I understand. My mom kicked me out when I was sixteen. Said she couldn't stand to look me in the eye anymore."

Roxas opened his mouth to say something-that he was sorry, maybe, or that he knew how he felt, or how that _sucked_-but nothing came out.

The man shot him a sweet, mischievous smile and nodded at the espresso. "My number's on the napkin."

Peering down, Roxas picked out the seven digit number above a name, both scribbled hastily in a blue pen that looked like it'd been running out of ink. _Axel. Cool name._ "That is so cliché," Roxas said, almost giggling.

Axel threw back his head and laughed, hiking his shoulder. "Haters gonna hate," he said, winking one luminous green eye. "Call me, will ya?"

All Roxas did was nod and grin.

**Review. PLZPLZPLZPLZPLZ. I will love you forever. **


	8. Dressed Up to Undress

**HAPPY AXEL DAY ALL! Enjoy the song oneshot I've got for you today, then go burn some shit. 8D**

**Today I've posted something special. A lemon. ;D So I'm warning you know, this is pretty much all sex, between guys. Don't want, don't read. I'm also warning you that this is, legit, the first lemon I've ever written. So it kinda sucks.  
**

**But, you can read and decide for yourself!**

**This is for you Hazu, hope you enjoy it. ^^**

**Warning: Sex. UNF. 8D**

"_We don't need money to kill the lights…" Dressed Up to Undress, Breathe Carolina_

Axel glanced at the florescent microwave clock, then down at his watch, then back.

"Roxas?" he called, stepping into the living room of their apartment, leaning against the back of the loveseat. "You ready?"

His boyfriend's answer echoed from the bedroom, through the crack in the half-open door. "Yeah, hold on." There was a patter of soft, shoeless footsteps and Roxas moved into the hallway, straightening his jacket and fiddling with the tie wrapped around his neck. How do I look?" he asked, spreading his arms wide to allow for evaluation.

"Wonderful," Axel said, grinning and meaning it. Roxas looked gorgeous in anything, let alone the dark black suit that just made his skin look that much creamier and his hair that much blonder and his eyes that much bluer. "Come on," Axel added, gesturing at the door with his keys. "Let's get going."

Roxas sighed and cocked his head to one side. "Do we really have to go out?"

"Yes, we have to," Axel answered, rolling his eyes with a smile. "It's your birthday."

Making a face, Roxas walked over to where his boyfriend was waiting, and snuck his tiny hand into Axel's larger one, where it fit perfectly. "I don't need a five star restaurant, or a fancy dinner to celebrate." He smiled up at the redhead through a screen of blond bangs. "Really."

"Come on," Axel pressed, squeezing the small fingers smothered in his own. "Let me treat you."

Roxas shook his head softly. "You don't need to spend money on me, Axel." Stretching up on his tiptoe, the blond pressed a soft, teasing kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "I'm perfectly happy to stay right here and just spend the night with you." He brought them together once more, this time catching a lower lip with his teeth and running over the spot with his tongue, before kissing him _again_, with any hint of chastity destroyed.

"Rox…" Axel breathed between kisses, his voice hitched, his eyes half-lidded with the effort of maintaining his self-control. "We should get going…"

"Really?" Roxas said, leaning backwards for a moment, his face stretched with a devious grin. Keeping a hold on Axel's hand, he rolled his hips against the faint bulge already building in Axel's pants. _This is almost too easy, jeez._ "Your body says differently."

Axel's eyes popped at the pressure, and Roxas could feel every line of his body tighten against every line of his own. "Mmm…" the redhead moaned, whatever word he'd been trying to get out decapitated with pleasure.

"Come on," Roxas whispered, pressing soft, feathery kisses up and down Axel's face and neck, tasting the sweet familiarity. "Let's just stay in. You can give me a present, but there's no need to go anywhere, or get dressed up." He could feel Axel's skin heating up through his lips, and knew he'd won. "You can give me the only thing I want, _right here._"

"And…" Axel swallowed hard, still working free of his daze as Roxas kissed him. "What would that be?"

Roxas giggled against the redhead's jaw. "What do you think? No dinners, no music," he reached up with his free hand to undo the tie looped around Axel's neck, tugging him even closer with the ends. He quirked a suggestive eyebrow, pressing their hips together. "_No clothes_."

Finally, Axel grinned and bent down, stealing Roxas' lips with his, probing a little with tongue and teeth. "Well…I can't argue with that…if it's want you really want…"

Smiling into the kiss, Roxas threw Axel's tie onto the couch and began his work on the shirt, teasing his fingers over soft skin as he went. "You tell me," Roxas breathed as he battled for control of their mouths, throwing himself into the long-ago memorized dance that-somehow-never grew old.

And that was all it took to get Axel moving-to get him loosening Roxas' tie and ripping off the jacket, to get him undoing the belt cinched around the blonde's slim waist and to get him slipping his warm hands underneath the dress shirt, treasuring every inch of the smooth, thin chest. Roxas moved just as quickly starving for everything that had been niggling at the back of his mind all day-him, Axel, their bedroom, _naked_. Not once letting their lips slip apart-_he tastes so good, just like always, just like _him_-_the blond pushed off Axel's jacket and shirt in one go, the buttons already unfastened, and set his hand on the redhead's broad, strong shoulders, giving himself a helping hand to keep their kisses running.

"Hmm, you're right," Axel moaned as he brushed careful fingers over Roxas' nipples, making the blond gasp with surprise. _Whoa…so good… _"This is _much_ better than dinner." His voice was low and rough, and Roxas could feel him grinning as he pressed a kiss to the point where his neck met his shoulder-through the shirt, first, before he decided that wasn't good enough and tore the offending object away.

Roxas snickered softly and kissed Axel's chest, over and over and over again while his fingers fiddled with the redhead's belt. Feeling Roxas' struggle, Axel moved his hands over to help, and together they got Axel free of both his pants and boxers in no time flat, before going to work on Roxas'. Within moments, both men were completely exposed and back to their touching and kissing, feeling no more embarrassed than they had with their clothes _on_. Both knew every inch of each other's bodies as well as they did their own. There was no awkwardness to being naked anymore.

"Should we move to the bedroom?" Roxas asked against Axel's collarbone as he pressed his hard length against his partner's, melting at the lovely friction. "Or at least the couch?"

Nodding, Axel swept the blond up into his arms in one swift, easy movement and in three swift, easy steps Roxas was falling back onto the couch, Axel crouching atop him-legs straddling his waist, hands resting on either side of his head, lips moving over his face and neck. _Warm-no, hot-wet, soft, really, really soft. _Weaving his fingers into long red spikes, Roxas showed his approval by grinding them together again and again and _again_, setting a rhythm that matched the racing of his heart.

_Holy shit…oh God…how does this never stop feeling even better than before?_

Growling low and deep in his throat, Axel balanced himself on one hand, using the other to trace down Roxas' side, fingers hot and lingering. When the came to a stop on his ass, Roxas gasped at the pleasure and reached back over his head, fumbling to open the drawer set into the coffee table. After a long, stumbling minute, he came up with a bottle of lotion that he tapped against Axel's elbow to grab his attention.

The redhead grinned and leaned back, taking the bottle into his hands while he balanced on his knees-kissing up and down Roxas' heaving chest. Uncapping it, he poured a generous amount into his palms, smoothing it over his skin as he brought them down, between, _under_. Axel's fingers brushed Roxas' entrance and he tensed, just a little, before he forced himself to relax. One by one, the redhead's long fingers slipped inside-slowly, carefully, tenderly-waiting for Roxas to take a deep breath, clench his teeth and settle around them, reminding himself that _this isn't anything, be calm. It won't hurt for long, you know that._

And it didn't. Within a minute or two of stretching, any twinges of pain had been washed away by the waves of pleasure that battered him every time Axel's fingers brushed _that one spot_ deep inside him. _Holy shit…so good…uhn…God…_

Then the fingers were slipping out, leaving him feeling empty, though the void was more than swallowed up by the kisses Axel rained down on him-his nose, his collar, his nipples, _there_-as he slipped on a condom that appeared from the same drawer, and covered it with more lotion from the bottle.

Roxas could feel the tip throbbing at his entrance, waiting, as Axel nibbled on the lobe of his ear, whispering, "You ready?"

"Fuck yeah," Roxas breathed, digging his fingers into Axel's back as _shit, holy fucking shit, oh my God _they came together in one smooth, gentle push.

Axel let out a shuddering breath at the feeling _good, so, so, so good_ overwhelming his mind. _So hot, so wet, so _good_, Roxas…_

And then-through some happenstance-they began moving at the same time, Axel pulling out and thrusting back in, Roxas rocking his hips to meet him halfway. Before long, Axel brought a free hand over to wrap around Roxas' length, touching and stroking the hard, shuddering flesh.

Both were shaking and sweating and gasping and kissing and feeling and _dying_ as the heat scaled higher and higher, both climbing and climbing towards that moment of _bliss _that smothered them both at once-blanking both minds with white-hot bursts of pleasure, pure, unconquerable _pleasure_.

And once the sensation had faded, they both lay there, half beside each other, half on top of one another, floating mindlessly on an unimaginable high. They just stayed where they were, entangled in each other, murmuring words of love and sweet nothings as they kissed lazily and stared, giggling at the ruined clothes strewn across the floor.

**Now, you've just finished this, and either you like it, or you don't. If you're going to choose **_**one**_** chapter to review out of all thirteen, pick this one, **_**please**_**. Because, it **_**is**_** my first lemon, and I want to improve at writing them. Really. Please?**


	9. Rescue

**Hope you all had an awesome day burning shit and molesting small children in the spirit of our favorite redhead. 8D Now, I've got some angst for ya. Lots and lots and lots of angst. Like holy crap.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy it, and I love all of you reviewers! I try to respond to all the signed ones, but I love those that are anonymous just as much. ;D**

**Warning: Uhm, language, I think… **

"_It takes some dying to feel alive…" Rescue, Breathe Carolina_

Roxas let the café door whoosh shut behind him, sealing him in the cool, coffee-smelling, air-conditioned hell. His eyes picked out Satan herself within a moment-she was sitting alone in the booth farthest from the door, surrounded by a bubble of empty tables and chairs. She was still in her apron from working behind the counter, her blond hair done up underneath a baseball cap. _She must be on break_, Roxas thought as he made his way over, weaving between waiters and patrons.

She looked up when he was only a few feet away, her eyes huge and confronting and a blue to match his own. "What is it you wanted to say to me, Namine?" he said without sitting down. He just stood at the open and of the table and stared down at her. "I don't have a lot of time, so can you make it quick?"

Her question was quick to fly, ready off her tongue. "Are you going back to him?"

Roxas rolled his eyes and crammed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "He has a name, sis. And yes, I am."

Turning pained in a moment, her eyes called out his insanity. "Roxas, don't!" she hissed, keeping her voice low, even though no one would hear, and if they did, Roxas didn't give a shit. "You can't!"

"Why the hell not?" he asked, raising both eyebrows in a challenge. _Why does it always have to be like this with her. Why does she always have to fight me on this…_ "I love him, he loves me, we want to be together. What's so wrong with that?"

Namine shook her head hard and fast, and let out a little, unbelieving cough. "Because he'll _hurt_ you," she said, as if that should've been obvious. "He _always_ hurts you. Again and again and yet you keep going back. He's says shit, and doesn't think, and he makes you cry. Every single time!"

Roxas shrugged, refusing to lose his cool. _I won't sink to her level. _"But I love him anyway. Sure he's an idiot. Sure, we fight, but it's as much me as it is him. And I love every single second that I'm with him, fighting or no. Can't you understand that?"

"No, I can't, because it doesn't make any sense!" she cried softly, her voice weighed down with a blend of anger and hatred and confusion. "It's ridiculous!"

"What? Ridiculous that I could love him for who he is? Flaws and all? It's not like _I_ don't have them too!" _Shit, calm down Roxas. Don't start to yell. Don't scream. Don't let her know how much fighting with her hurts you too…_

"Roxas, _please_," she begged, leaning forwards towards him, her hands balled into fists on her knees. "Just try to understand!" _Same as when we were kids. Always trying to make me _understand_._

Letting out a breath, Roxas glanced at his watch, though he didn't actually check the time. "Are you quite finished, because if you are, I should be going."

Then Namine panicked. She jumped to her feet and latched onto his arm, any control she'd had of her voice lost to the wind. "_Please_ don't go back to him, _please_. You can come stay with me, or Sora, hell, _Mom_ will take you in if you ask!"

Gently, Roxas peeled away her hands and threw them back to where they belonged-at her sides. "That's enough, Namine. I'm sick of hearing this. I love him. He has flaws, and I love _them too_. It's worth every damn tear I shed to be with him for a moment." Roxas stepped back and shook his head, wishing there was some way to make _her_ understand, for once. "So please, just…spare me your twisted version of 'rescue.' I don't need it."

And then he was gone.

Axel opened the door to his apartment, expecting Roxas and finding himself disappointed. _He said he'd be coming by today…is he running late? _"Hey Dem," Axel said, trying to chase the let down from his voice as he painted a grin on his cheeks, opening the door wider to allow his best friend a path in, only to find him followed by a shorter man, with blue emo hair and glasses. "Oh, and Zexion. Hi." _I don't think he's ever been here before, has he? Dem usually comes alone…_

"Hello Axel," Zexion said, the epitome of politeness, nodding in greeting. Everything about him was neat and proper, his jeans clean and dark, his long-sleeved shirt wrinkle-free and spotless. "Good to see you."

Axel nodded back. "You too," he said, before turning back to Demyx. The musician was bouncing back and forth a little, on the balls of his feet, his lower lip caught between his teeth and the hem of his band tee crumpled in between his fingers. "Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not," Zexion said, answering for his boyfriend, since he seemed incapable of coherence. "Axel, we think you should stop seeing Roxas."

_Stop seeing…he's kidding, right? _Letting out a nervous sort of laugh, Axel fell down onto one of the chair spread around his dining table."Is this an intervention?"

Demyx stole the chair beside him, hanging his hands in between his legs. "Sort of."

Before Axel could throw in another word, Zexion took a place behind the back of his boyfriend's chair, and continued where Demyx couldn't. "We believe that your relationship with each other is unhealthy. We think it would be beneficial to both of you to end it."

"You're shitting me, right?" Axel scoffed, looking between the pair of them and finding no hint of teasing in either gaze. "This is supposed to be funny, _right_?"

"No, Ax, it's not," Demyx said slowly, each word measured carefully for their weight and impact before leaving his lips. "This is serious. You and him…you never seem happy when you're together. There's always something going wrong, always something for you two to fight about. It's scary." He shook his head sadly. "I don't like seeing you so mad."

"How can you think I'm not happy?" Axel asked, making a little sound of disbelief. "I _love_ him. Yes we yell, yes we fight, but we couldn't live any other way. And we're _happy_ this way. Really."

Zexion was just shaking his head, back and forth, back and forth, his bangs swinging down to cover both eyes, before he tossed them back. "I'm sorry Axel, but I must insist. This is self-destructive, it's no good for either of you."

"You're insane if you really think I'm going to leave him," Axel told him, using every bit of self-control he had to stop himself from getting angry. _That won't help. Yelling, screaming, hating, that won't help. _"That will never, ever happen, because I _love _him. How is that difficult to understand?" He spun to Zexion, speaking only to him. "You love Demyx, he loves you. Would you ever even consider leaving him, even if you fought sometimes?"

The man made a conflicted face and bit his lip where a scar still lingered from where a piercing had once hung. "Well no, but it's really not the same situation…"

"Well, _I'm sorry_, but _I_ must insist. I will stay with Roxas until he doesn't want me, or until I die, though they're pretty much the same. You're not going to change my mind, _ever_." Axel got to his feet and stomped over to the door, letting the anger that he'd kept from his words pour out through his feet. _This is ridiculous, they're being so ridiculous. The nerve… _He cranked it back, holding it open. "Now, I think you should probably go."

Both men looked at each other, and both got to their feet. Demyx paused in the doorway as they left, looking back at his best friend since high school. "Look Axel, we just care about you," he said. "If there's anything you need…"

_Maybe they really do care, and I'm glad that they do but they do, but…no._ Axel cut him off with a hand. "Spare me, please. Just spare me."

And he closed the door.

**If you review you will be one of my favorite people ever. 8D**


	10. I Don't Wanna Know If U Got Laid

**This is shit. I apologize. I wrote this while half-watching someone play LoZ: Ocarina of Time, so… yeah. 8D It's more than a little fail, but it's all I have finished, so it's what you guys get. Sorry!**

**Listen to the song, don't, it's up to you, but, enjoy to any sort of level that you can enjoy this piece of crap.**

"_Once upon a time, there was love in your eyes…" I Don't Wanna Know (If U Got Laid), Cinema Bizarre_

"_Hey, you wanna go out tomorrow night?"_

"_Ugh, I'm sorry hon, I've got a deadline for the end of the week…can we go out on Saturday?"_

"_Yeah, sure…I guess. I'm going to head home then, let you work. Call me, okay?"_

"_Alright babe, love you."_

"_Love you too."_

"_Hey Rox, you want to go eat tonight? My treat?"_

"_Oh, sorry, Axel, today's Sora's birthday…I promised I'd do something with him."_

"_Okay, no problem. Call me when you're free, alright? Love you."_

"_Night."_

Axel dragged his hand through his hair, freeing his the spikes from the ponytail he'd bound them back into while writing-now it straggled against his neck, tickling his the collar of his T-shirt. Flipping on the lamp, Axel checked the screen on the front of the phone.

_0 Missed Calls._

Letting out a breath, he sat back and turned on the TV, listening to the news while he waited for the phone to ring.

And waited.

And waited.

_Waiting…_

Demyx threw his head back against Axel's couch, pulling his feet down from where he'd kicked them up on the coffee table. "You gotta get out man," he said, jumping up, reaching over to wrap a hand around Axel's wrist. The redhead glared up at his friend, who'd come over for the express purpose of distracting him, and was doing an awful job so far. _God, he just reminds me _more_ of Roxas. Roxas always wanted to go out…_

Tugging on his arm, Demyx hauled Axel off the couch, turning the TV off with his free. Hand. "Come on, we'll go out to a club, have some drinks."

Making a face, Axel glanced back at the phone where it rested on the end table, entirely still and silent. _Like it'd been for _forever_… _"But what if…" he said, his eyes heavy with confliction.

Demyx sighed and grabbed a fistful of Axel's hair-tangled, half-styled-and ripped his head around, staring him down with hard, exasperated eyes. "Roxas isn't going to call," he told him, holding his voice even as he held the redhead's unhappy gaze. "I'm sorry, but he's gone. I know how much you wish that wasn't true, but it is. And I know you still love him, but you have to get over it. If he doesn't answer your calls and doesn't call you, he's not coming back." Letting him go, Demyx stomped over to the coat rack, tearing down his jacket and hunting down his keys from the pocket.

"Now come on," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "We're going out."

It took a half hour of Demyx's navigating for them to find a bar that met Axel's requirements. He'd never been there before with a certain blond boyfriend. When they finally picked one out they stole a parking spot from some dark-haired busty bitch, who leaned out her window and flipped them off.

And Axel laughed. Axel actually laughed.

It took a bit of coaxing but eventually Demyx got Axel out of the car and onto a barstool. The place was dim and loud and reeked of alcohol and sweat, but neither men really noticed. Axel was too busy bitching and Demyx was too busy trying to get the both of them wasted.

"Demyx, can we go home, please?" Axel whined after all of three minutes, cradling his head in his fingertips, stretching his tattoos across his face. "I don't want to be here, really."

Demyx snorted at him, raising one eyebrow. "No we cannot go home," he said as if Axel was being a complete idiot. _Which he is…_ "We just got here." With one hand he hailed the bartender over and ordered two beers, before striking up the most random conversation with the blue-haired man to his other side, who's emo bangs covered more than half his face.

Axel ignored everything his best friend was rambling about, casting his eyes around the bar instead, not knowing what exactly he was looking for until he found it, completely unintentionally. And after he had, he really wished he hadn't.

_Him. Holy shit. Why is _he_ here? Why? What cruel, loveless God have I offended so deeply that he would punish me like this?_

Him. Here. _With _him. _Kill me. _

Roxas-short and blond and the most adorable thing this side of the equator, leaning back against the wall with a soft, devious grin curling his soft lips. His hands were folded, hiding behind his back, his blond hair glowing under the faint lights. _And in front of him, hands pressed to the wall on either side of his head… I hate him. _Red hair, the same color of his own but longer, and pulled back into a ponytail that fell all the way down his back, and held back at the front with a pair of goggles. Emerald eyes full of lust and edged by crimson tattoos. Tall and lean with his shirt half open over his chest…

_Would totally do him, but still hate him. God… I can't watch this…_

Spinning back around, Axel latched onto his best friend's arm. "Demyx," he said, as the brunette looked over at him, his eyes already softly glazed when Axel hadn't taken a single drink. "We're going home. Now."

The man was distraught, his eyebrows knitting together with childish dissatisfaction. _Jesus Christ, can anyone one hold their liquor _worse_? _"What? Why?" he whined, words starting to blur at the edges. _He's not even halfway through one beer… "_I like it here, they've got good drinks."

Axel felt like tearing his hair out by the roots. "_Because_. Are you _blind?_ _Look_ over _there_." And to his ultimate shame, he flung the pair of them around and pointed right over at where Roxas _and that slutty bitch_ were hiding in the corner.

Demyx face melted into half-comprehension. "Oh," he said, snapping his fingers together, trying to hunt down the right name. _R…Re…Re-something. _That's what's-his-name, Cloud's friend." _Yeah, that's where I know him from. Cloud's party, Roxas brought me along…_

Axel made a disgusted little noise and laid his head down on his hands and his palms down on the bar. "Jesus Christ, he even looks like me," he breathed, mostly to himself, thinking out loud. "This is shit. I can't believe this…" _Fuck, what did I do? What did I ever fucking do?_

"Well-" Demyx started, only to be cut off by a voice much higher, more feminine, and a thousand times more familiar.

_Are you kidding me?_

"Axel?" Roxas asked from behind. "Is that you?"

Axel only half turned to look at him, one half-lidded eye peeking out of the shadow of his arms. Roxas was blurry and beautiful, his eyes huge and blue and full of shock. "I'm pretty hard to miss, Roxas."

The boy laughed, but the laugh was short and sour, full of anxiety and sarcasm. "I'm just sort of…" It took him a long time to find the right word. "Amazed. You're out of your apartment."

This time, Axel raised his head completely, narrowing his grass-green eyes at the boy he still loved. _Will always love. _"Well yeah…I'm not a fucking hermit."

Roxas snorted, crossing his arms over his skinny chest. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of torn, light wash jeans and a black beater, leather wristbands cinched around his arms. _Can't remember the last time I saw him dress like _that. "Could've fooled me. I can't remember the last time you went out drinking."

Choosing to ignore that slight, Axel glanced over Roxas' shoulder at the redhead lurking a few steps behind, a smug little smirk stretching his lips. _That bitch._ "So you're with…"

Roxas followed his line of sight and nodded, the planes of his face hard and cold. "Reno. His name's Reno."

Sighing, Axel got to his feet, closing the distance between them until they stood only a hand's breath apart, nearly chest to chest. Roxas wouldn't look at him. "We're done then?" Axel asked, his tone condemning. "That's it? Really?"

Roxas shook his head and peered up, eyes just a little sad, the sight making Axel's heart throb. "If you don't understand, then yes, we are. I'm sorry," Roxas said, leaning up to brush one last feathery kiss against his tattooed cheek. "Goodbye, Axel."

And he whirled around and bounced back over to the waiting redhead, answering the grin on his face with a smile of his own.

**You wanna shoot me? Go ahead, so do I. "OTL**


	11. For You

**I'm so-so-so-so-so-so sorry. Internet was down yesterday. So I'll post two today. Most likely. If not, two tomorrow. Either way, I'll make up what I missed. **

**Here's a random, super short Zemyx oneshot amid all the AkuRoku, because I love Zemyx and I owed Zexion one. If you wanna know why, I'll explain in the ending AN. **

**Enjoy! **

It was on his home from work that Zexion saw "the baby." It was sitting on a dry, un-mowed lawn, peppered with thistles and weeds, riding on a rust-eaten trailer with a moldy bit of cardboard scribbled all over with black Sharpie-_For Sale, Will Take Best Offer_-clinging to the windshield.

And for no reason-maybe because he could imagine the grin on his boyfriend's face, maybe because he could imagine the way his eyes would light up with complete _glee_, or maybe it was just some ridiculous whim that entered and refused to leave his mind-he pulled over to the curb, got out of his car and rang the doorbell.

A rough man with hooked sideburns and long dreads pulled back from his face and a cigarette hanging from his lower lip. "Whataya want?" he asked, chewing on the ashy butt of his cig.

"What's the least you'll take for that boat out front?" Zexion said, tucking his bangs behind his ear and straightening his glasses.

The man raised a thick eyebrow and scratched the stubble on his neck. "You really want it? Well, it's a piece of shit…four hundred bucks I guess? It won't run without a shitload of fixing."

Zexion nodded, fiddling with the hem of the dress shirt he'd worn to the office-it really was too hot for it, and he had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "Would you take a check?"

Zexion stepped into the tiny house he'd inherited from his parents when they moved into a condo in Florida, slamming the door loudly on purpose so Demyx would hear, all the way in the back. The ambient sounds of guitar and soft singing faded to a stop, and a happy voice calling out replaced it. "Zexy? Is that you?"

"Yeah hon," Zexion called, smiling at his nickname as he dropped his keys onto the table, peeling the tie from around his neck. "I'm home."

Demyx's voice echoed through the house. "Awesome. I'm in the studio." And a few last chords followed, fainter than before.

Zexion wove through the kitchen and into the little study that had been converted into a mostly soundproof studio for Demyx to around in with his guitar and his keyboard without waking Zexion if we went to bed early or slept in late. Demyx was propped up on a bubble chair, his favorite acoustic cradled in his arms and a pencil caught between his teeth. Papers were spread over the floor, scribbled all over with music notes.

Freeing one hand, he tugged the pencil from his teeth and grinned up at his boyfriend. "Hey cutie, how was work?"

Zexion shrugged, undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. "Work was work." He nodded his head to the sheets on the floor. "You get anything done?"

Nodding, Demyx set his guitar on its stand and climbed to his feet, walking over and pressing a soft kiss to his boyfriend's cheek. "Yep. Lots." Zexion smiled, trying not to _grin_ outright, because he knew Demyx would see straight to the heart of it, which he did within moments.

"What's with that face?" he asked, fiddling with a bit of Zexion's hair. "You look like you're hiding something."

Zexion pressed his lips together and turned his head to one side, grabbing onto Demyx's hand. "Maybe I am. Come on," he tugged on his arm, pulling him out of the studio and through the kitchen and living room. "There's something I have to show you."

"What?"

Beaming now, Zexion reached up and held a hand over the musician's eyes, leading him along. "You'll see, it's outside." And the pair of them stepped through the door, Demyx stumbling slightly on the stoop.

Bringing them both to a stop, Zexion peeled back his hand and pushed Demyx before him, waiting while the man blinked away the bright spots, and actually saw what he was waiting for him to see.

"Oh my God, you didn't," Demyx gasped, his entire body going rigid. "Oh my God, did you really buy this for me?" He spun around, his face breaking into the biggest grin. "Are you _serious?_"

Zexion followed suit, his lips stretching all the way from ear to ear, his eyes melting at the sight of Demyx so utterly _ecstatic. _"Yeah, I'm serious. It doesn't run…but I thought maybe Axel could help you fix it up? Anyway, I drove past it and I couldn't help but think of you, and it wasn't expensive…" He shrugged and leaned into Demyx's trembling frame, laying his head against the other man's shoulder. "I knew it would make you happy."

Demyx spun around and grabbed Zexion's other hand. "And you were _right_, holy _crap_." Darting forward, he stole a quick kiss. Letting his fingers go, he threw his arms around him, pressing his lips to the crook of his neck. "I love you so much. I can't believe this."

Axel ran a hand through his hair and pulled the cigarette from his mouth, crushing it into the gravel underneath his heel. Beside him, Marluxia pulled another from inside the pocket of his leather jacket and lit it with a match from his jeans.

"Dude, this boat is a piece of shit, you know that," Axel said, looking up at his best friend, who was perched on the dull, battered hood of the boat, his legs dangling over the edge as he kicked them back and forth. "Right?"

Demyx chewed his lip, cocking his head to the side. His eyes were huge and aquamarine and shimmering with excitement. "Can we get it to run?" he asked, overly seriously.

Frowning, Marluxia took a couple steps forward and smacked one booted toe against the cracked, flaking hull. It answered with a hollow, sickly thud, followed by a metallic rattle as the steering wheel jiggled about in its socket. "Well, in theory, sure," he said, shrugging.

"Then I don't care," Demyx said, grinning as he hopped down from the boat. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "I love it."

Axel threw his head back and laughed, shrugging off his T-shirt so he was left in nothing but a black beater and pair of jeans. "Okay then," he chuckled, stretching out his long, muscled arms and cracking every last one of his fingers. "Let's get this thing running."

**So, back when I was still in school, I had a class that kicked my ass all over the place: Honors Biology. And every time we had a test, my teacher would pass out copies of them with numbers on them. I always got six. Like, even if I would've gotten eight or nine, I rigged it so I got six. Because I had a superstition that if I got six and prayed to Zexion for brains, I would be able to pass. I promised "if you let me **_**not fucking fail**_** this test, I will write something Zemyx." **

**I passed every single test, and this is my payment. 8D So yeah, boring story over.**


	12. Candy

**I wrote Sora like a retread in this. The fuck. D8**

**Anyway, Happy AkuRoku day lovelies! And Friday the Thirteenth, though that isn't nearly as cool. Read a shitload of gay and eat some sea salt ice cream. It's delicious. Do it. Party it up, man.**

**I'm hoping to have the last oneshot up by midnight, so I can meet my quota. **

Roxas leaned forward into the mirror and dragged the eyeliner pencil across his lashes, darkening the raccoon make-up circling his eyes. _Only once a year._

"You ready yet?" Sora called from the hallway, poking his brunette head into the bedroom.

"Almost," Roxas said, straightening his green hat over his blond spikes, half-flattened for the occasion. His eyes were ringed with eyeshadow and liner so that they glowed brilliant blue amid the shadows. A forest green tunic hung from his thin shoulders down to the bottom of his thighs, leggings continuing on from where it stopped. Grabbing his brown faux-leather boots and tugging them onto his feet, he jumped up and spread his arms. "There. How do I look?" he asked his brother.

Sora grinned, showing off the fangs capping his canines. There was a pumpkin mask pulled down over half of his face. He had on a short black-and-white jacket with tattered sleeves and decorative stitching. "Great, now come on, Riku's waiting in the car."

"So, who's throwing this again?" Roxas asked as the three of them headed up the walkway towards the pretty white house, tiny and cramped but swelling with warm light and pulsing with the sounds of music.

Riku answered without looking over his shoulder, his arm looped around Sora's waist. "A guy named Axel. He's in my Psychology class." Riku glanced at him, smiling around his fake fangs. "You'd like him Roxas."

"Oh, really?" Roxas said, quirking an eyebrow at his brother's boyfriend. Riku was dressed in torn white pants and silvery shirt hanging open over his bandaged chest, with gray ears peeking out of his hair. "Like, or _like-like_?"

The man's grin spread. "_Like-like_."

The three of them stepped into the pool of light spilling over the porch and Riku rang the doorbell, Sora leaning against him as they waited for the hammering footsteps to reach them. The front door flew inwards, revealing a tall, lean man with hair so red that it had to be dyed and eyes so green that they had to be fake. _He must wear contacts. They're pretty though. Hot. _"Hey Riku!" the man said, showing off perfectly white teeth. There were inverse tattoos tattooed across his cheeks and a gaudy gold hoop dangling from one ear. "These your guests?"

"Yep," Riku said, squeezing Sora into his side, both of them grinning. "This is my boyfriend, Sora." Roxas hung back a step, trying to give the host a once-over without being too shameless about it. He was dressed as a pirate-a headband hugging his temples, a striped black and white shirt hanging around his thin frame, his pants torn and stained with fake blood. An eye patch was sitting unused, atop his hair so that both were free to pick out Roxas, hidden behind his brother and Riku.

One red eyebrow jumped up, curious, cunning. "Who's the cutie hiding behind him?" he asked, his voice slipping into a low, insinuating purr.

"His twin brother, Roxas."

"Mmm," Axel hummed, his eyes smoldering under heavy lids. _Holy shit, he's hot._ "You're all _more than_ _welcome_, come on in." He leaned back from the doorway, giving them space to step into the mash of chatter and music and flickering, colored light.

It was even smaller than it looked from the outside, but that didn't seem to be bothering anyone. People were dancing in the living room, churning and grinding and falling all over each other. There was a tiny kitchen hiding behind Axel, tiled in black and white and a bachelor's grime, a few guests lounging around against the counters, munching on food and unwrapping candy from a huge plastic bowl, sucking down beers like they were water.

Sora saw the sugar in an instant, the overactive child within him going straight to heaven. "Oh Riku, look, there's candy!" he said, tugging on his boyfriend's hand, pulling him towards the kitchen.

Riku tossed Axel a querying glance, and the redhead laughed. "Go get whatever you want dude, it's there to be eaten," he said, waving them on and sidling out of the way.

"Find me if you want to go home Rox!" Riku said over his shoulder as Sora tumbled towards the food like a puppy. "Have fun!"

Roxas grinned, always amazed at how much ridiculousness Riku could take from his brother. _He must really love him. _"I will!" he called back through his smile.

Axel snickered, suddenly oppressively close. _He smells like fire… _"Oh yeah you will," he purred, their chests hardly a hand's breadth apart. Roxas was worried the redhead could feel the hammering of his heart. And then, he was almost gone, away and around in a moment, hovering by the entrance to the living room and shooting the blond a devious grin. "Just call if there's anything you need."

Roxas spun, stopping him with a seductive glance. "Why are you leaving in the first place?" he asked, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the music and heavy with implication.

"Thought you might want a little time alone," Axel said, fiddling with the earring dangling against his neck. It was real, Roxas noticed, not a clip on or anything. "Enjoy the party, you know, the ambience."

Roxas snorted, quirking one blond eyebrow. He was _extremely _proud now of the costume he'd chosen. The tunic was just short enough to tease, the leggings tight enough to give a nice glimpse of what was underneath, the boots giving him a boost. He knew he looked good. "Ambience? Black lights and the smell of beer."

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Axel said, spreading his arms overhead, his chuckling soft and unbearably sexy. _His arms are nice too, damn. _"The perfume of the gods."

"You're ridiculous," Roxas said. Shaking his head, he took a slinking step forward, swallowing the distance between them, standing up on his tiptoes so that his eyes were even with Axel's. "Is there anywhere we can go where there _isn't_ people all around?"

The redhead grinned like the devil, running one hand down Roxas' side, gentle and tantalizing. "What kind of man would I be if there wasn't?"

Roxas pressed both hands against the wall on either sides of Axel's waist, helping himself to balance. He let his breath ghost over the man's cheek. "Well why don't you _show me then?_"

"With pleasure."

"Hey Rox," Riku called from the porch, Sora leaning up against his side, his blue eyes lidded and happy. "You have fun at the party?"

"Definitely," Roxas said, letting the door swing shut behind him. He nodded at his brother, who was more than half-asleep and looked like he would've already toppled over if Riku hadn't been hanging onto him. "All tuckered out?" he asked as the three walked to Riku's car, waiting impatiently by the side of the road, crowded in by a pale pink Mini and a monstrous black Jeep.

"Mmhmm," Riku hummed, digging his keys out of his pocket and peeping the locks open. He set down Sora in the backseat and watched as the _twenty-fucking-two_ year old's head lolled back against the headrest and his eyes drooped closed in an instant, like he was no more than six. Riku smiled a wistful little smile at his boyfriend and glanced at Roxas with a pleading look. "Would you mind driving?" he asked, offering up the keys.

Taking them, Roxas chewed on his lower lip, tasting the memory of another tongue where his was now. _Mmm, I won't be forgetting that anytime soon… _"No problem," he said, falling into the driver's seat and pulling out into the street, cradling the wheel carefully so he wouldn't risk losing the number scrawled across his palm in blurred black pen.

**Review prease. **


	13. Wind and Rain

**Fourhundredworddrabblewut? I was running out of time, so this is super short. And it's nothing but fluff. You will gag on the ridiculous amount of sugary fluff.**

**HAPPY AKUROKU DAY. Hope you had a great time on what is-no contest-the best holiday of the year. I love all of you who read this, and those of you who reviewed, and those who didn't. You all make my day. **

The sky outside the sliding glass door of Axel and Roxas' apartment was that strange shade of gray you get only after a day-long storm has just stopped. Where the trees and the grass are that ridiculous too-green color that makes everything else look dull and sickly, where the clouds hang low and grumble with thunder, threatening yet another bout of rain.

Roxas was perched on one end of the couch, watching the slippery leaves dance to the beat of the wind, when Axel made a little choking sound from beside him. The blond turned around to find his boyfriend curled in on himself, his face vampire-pale and the bruised bags under his eyes drooping especially low. His teeth were chattering and his limbs shivering.

Roxas frowned and reached out to lay a hand against the redhead's upper arm. "Hey, Axel, you don't look so good," he said, watching as Axel's eyes snapped into focus. "You okay?"

The redhead shook his head, his voice shuddering. "Don't feel that great. Maybe I'm coming down with something…" His words trailed off into nothingness as his eyes slid closed.

Roxas laid the back of his hand against Axel's clammy forehead and yanked it right back. _His skin is on fire._ He grabbed a blanket off the arm of the couch, draping it over the redhead's lap and grabbing hold of his shoulders. "Go on, lay down, is there anything you want?"

Axel shook his head, resisting as Roxas tried to pull him down, onto his lap. "Naw, I'll be fine."

"Lay down," the blond pressed gently, tugging harder.

"I don't want you to get sick too," the redhead murmured.

Roxas laughed as the sounds of more rain began filtering through the glass. "Trust me, I'll be perfectly fine." Axel finally gave in, spreading out down the length of the couch, with his head cradled on Roxas' thighs. The blond straightened the blanket over his quivering boyfriend. "Do you want the remote?"

He felt Axel shake his head. "Just put on whatever you want."

"Alright," Roxas said, flicking on the TV and turning it to the Daily Show, setting the volume on low. Putting aside the remote, he threaded his fingers through Axel's hair, combing it out methodically. "Try to sleep if you can."

Axel turned his face into the warmth of his boyfriend's leg, humming contentedly. "Mmm, love you Roxas."

Roxas smiled, perfectly, blissfully happy. "I love you too."

**Hope you all enjoyed, and I would lovelovelove a review if you could spare a moment. But, if not, I still love you anyway.**

**Bye for now!**


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